Category Archives: KpaySports Blog

(AP) — Oakland is pitching five sites as potential homes for a new stadium for the A’s.

The Oakland Tribune reported Thursday that it had obtained a city report submitted to team officials in November that identified the five sites. They include two on a college campus and one at a U.S. Postal Service facility.

The newspaper said A’s co-owner Lew Wolff declined to discuss the sites. But he said the team was continuing to take a second look at possible stadium locations in its territory.

The A’s attempts to move to San Jose were blocked because the San Francisco Giants have rights to that territory.

(AP) — Sebastian Janikowski kicked a 31-yard field goal in overtime and the Raiders got a defensive stop to seal what might have been the final game ever in Oakland with a 23-20 victory over the San Diego Chargers on Thursday night.

Derek Carr threw a touchdown pass and led the winning overtime drive for the Raiders (7-8), who could be moving to the Los Angeles area after the season. It also made Charles Woodson a winner in his final home game with the Raiders as he will retire after his 18th NFL season.

Philip Rivers threw for 277 yards and a touchdown for the Chargers (4-11). They lost their seventh straight division game.

(AP) — Klay Thompson scored 20 points, Stephen Curry added 16 with nine assists and the Golden State Warriors remained unbeaten at home this season with a 103-85 win over the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night.

Andrew Bogut added 10 points and 13 rebounds while Draymond Green had 15 points, nine rebounds and six assists for the Warriors (27-1) in their final tuneup before an NBA Finals rematch against LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers on Christmas.

Golden State led by 10 with less than 6 minutes remaining before Curry’s second 3-pointer of the game sparked a 14-5 run to help the Warriors seal the victory. It was their 13th in a row at home this season and the 31st consecutive win at Oracle Arena dating to last season — an ongoing franchise record.

Derrick Favors had 17 points and nine rebounds for the Jazz, who have lost five of seven.

The parent of a Chico High School basketball player who recently quit the team is telling KPAY that her comments were misconstrued by a Chico Enterprise-Record story on January 20th.

Nicole Roe is Derrek Gordon’s mother. Gordon left the Chico High varsity team after the Panthers win over Las Plumas on January 11th…..According to the Chico-ER story, Gordon’s mother felt her son was not wanted on the team anymore and “they” were looking for a reason to kick him off. Roe told KPAY she wanted to hold off on making a comprehensive statement NOW because of possible future litigation. She says she is still mulling over whether to file a lawsuit against Chico Unified but wants to make it clear her problems are with the Chico Unified School District; with the basketball team just PART of the problem……

Roe’s son, Gordon was suspended for three days earlier this year after he took a picture at the Almond Bowl and posted it to his Facebook page. The photo included a school official. Roe told the Chico-ER that when her son was suspended the school didn’t contact her.

Roe told KPAY that her problems extend well beyond the hoops court and that the Chico-ER story on January 20th mis-characterized her grievance. She says that she never called head coach Kirk Bruchler a racist, and that she never meant to infer that fellow players Trevon Reid and Eli Penick were leaving the team for the same reasons as her son. Chico-ER reporter Joseph Shufleberger says he stands by his story.

Reid, who was a stand-out football player at Chico High, contacted KPAY and felt it was unfair that he was made part of the story. Now, Reid and several other former African-American players and parents are coming to Bruchler’s defense as they believe the insinuations in the article need to be rebuffed. Reid quit the team on the same day Penick and Gordon left. But, he told KPAY that he left the team so he could focus on football and it had nothing to do with the perceived problems invoked by Roe and her son.

Reid says that he is only guilty of “bad timing” in quitting, since he wanted to focus on football and Penick wanted to train and get ready for the track and field season. Reid added that he was surprised to learn that Roe even alluded to them in the article since his situation didn’t have anything to do with her son’s situation…..

Reid says he would have liked more playing time but understood why other players were getting time in front of him and felt like it was better to get a head-start on football for next season rather than play basketball. He says he has been the treated differently at school since the January 20th Chico-ER article tied him to the controversy.

Reid’s mother, Crystal Johnson, said she was not happy to see her son’s name tied to the accusations and feels that her son’s situation was not clearly communicated in the initial article. Johnson said her son wanted to rest his shoulder which has been injuried numerous times in his high school football playing career. She says that Reid also wanted to focus on his wide receiver skills since he will be adapting to a new position when he plays at either Butte or a four-year school next season.

Former Chico High stand-out, Kenneth McMillan is now at Butte College. McMillan is having a great season for the Roadrunners and played two seasons for Bruchler. He says his time with the coach was great….and feels the insinuations against Bruchler are not fair…..

McMillan and Sterling Smith were a dynamic one-two punch at Chico High. Smith is currently playing at Division I Coppin State. He told KPAY he was mad when first hearing what was being written about his former head coach….

Smith said Bruchler was more than fair to everyone on the team. He told KPAY that there were several different ethnicities on the squad and no one ever felt they were being treated differently…..

Smith added that Bruchler was more than a coach to him, adding that he was able to have real-life conversations that didn’t center around basketball.

Renne Sacks-Smith is the mother of Sterling Smith. She says that the accusations sound nothing like the Kirk Bruchler she knows…..

Sacks-Smith says Bruchler was always fair. She says in her basketball crazy house-hold they didn’t always agree with his coaching philosophy, but he was a good coach and a great teacher to her son….

Sacks-Smith says racism is real, but she believes, in this instance, it’s far from the truth. She adds that many parents are afraid to step forward and support the coach because they don’t want to get embroiled in the controversy. She says she felt such an injustice was being done to Bruchler that she had to step forward and defend him….

Chico High officials told the Chico-ER they can not speak on the allegations citing confidentiality guidelines. Chico High Principal Jim Hanlon says he has worked with Bruchler for 12 years and he has “unquestioned integrity.” Bruchler said he couldn’t comment on the matter because its a student issue.

Roe tells KPAY that this is a bigger issue than basketball and says she believes there is unfair treatment at the Chico Unified School District with “racial undertones.” She adds she is still exploring her options and a lawsuit is a possibility. In the meantime, her son is still attending classes at Chico High School.

The San Francisco Giants and Oakland A’s are in some big trouble. Both Bay Area teams find themselves down 0-2 in their best-of-five first round divisional series.

The Giants suffered their worst shut-out loss in playoff franchise history losing by a score of 9-0. Bronson Arroyo twirled one hit ball over seven innings for Cincinnati. The Giants offensive woes beging at the top as Angel Pagan and Marco Scutaro have combined to go 1-for-17 in the series. Game 3 is Tuesday in Cincinnati. We will bring you the game on our sister station 101.7 FM and AM 1340 at 2:35pm with our pre-game at 2:05 with Kruk and Kuip.

The A’s lost to the Tigers 5-4 in heart-breaking fashion. Oakland coughed up three leads in falling behind 0-2 in the series. Don Kelly’s sacrifice fly was the game-winner and now the A’s head home where they hope the home crowd will give them a boost.

In Chico State sports news, the men’s soccer team runs their unbeaten streak to seven with a win on Sunday at Cal State Monterey Bay. Akwafei Ajeakwa scored the winning goal in the 55th minute for the Cats who are now 6-2-3 overall and 5-1-3 in the CCAA. The Wildcat women’s soccer team continues to struggle offensively dropping a 1-0 decision at Monterey Bay. Chico has now been shut-out in three of their last four matches. The Cats’ are now 5-7 overall and 3-7 in the CCAA.

Chico State volleyball wraps up their 5 game road trip with a win at Cal State East Bay. The Wildcats win in four sets gives them a 12-4 overall record and they are now 6-3 in the CCAA. The Wildcats went 2-3 on a tough 5-game roadie which saw them drop the first three matches, only to sweep the weekend against East Bay and Monterey Bay. Chico State returns home to take on Dominguez Hills and Cal State LA this Friday and Saturday.

The Chico State men’s golf team is hosting the Interwest Wildcat Classic at Sevillano Links in Corning today. Five of the top 15 teams in the country in Division II golf will battle it out with the Wildcats at the links course. Two rounds will be played today beginning at 8:30am and then Tuesday’s final round will begin at 8:30am.

The 49ers blew out the Bills on Sunday 45-3 as Alex Smith threw for 303 yards and three touchdowns. The 49ers had 621 total yards of offense registering more than 300 yards passing and on the ground. The Niners are now 4-1 on the season. The Raiders had a bye. Green Bay and Aaron Rodgers blew a 21-3 lead and lost to the Colts 30-27 in Indianapolis. The Packers fall to 2-3 on the season.

In high school football the Paradise Bobcats won, what many are calling the game of the year on Friday nigth knocking off Enterprise in overtime 42-41. Tom Hays threw three touchdown passes to Johnny Porter for the Bobcats who go to 5-1 on the season. Enterprise scored a touchdown in overtime but tried going to for two points on the conversion, only to have their quarterback Zack Trueblood mis-handle the snap. Chico blew out Red Bluff and Pleasant Valley lost 55-23 to Foothill.

Butte College had a bye. They will be back in action next Saturday against Santa Rosa at Cowan Stadium.

The Oakland Athletics captured the AL
West with another improbable rally in a season full of them, coming
back from four runs down and a 13-game division deficit to stun the
two-time defending league champion Texas Rangers 12-5 on Wednesday.
Josh Hamilton dropped a fly ball in center field for a two-run
error that put the A’s (94-66) ahead 7-5 in a six-run fourth
inning. Hamilton’s Rangers (93-67) are headed to the new one-game,
wild-card playoff on the heels of just their second three-game sweep of 2012.

The wildcard match-ups are Friday. The American League match-up is
Baltimore vs Texas. In the National League it will be St. Louis taking on
Atlanta.

The Giants host the Reds on Saturday in Game 1 of the NLDS.
Matt Cain gets the ball for the Giants and Johnny Cueto will go for the
Reds.

The Oakland A’s are one win away from the most improbable of season recoveries. With a win they will win the AL West and could have home field advantage throughout the American League playoffs. A loss, and the A’s would play in a one game playoff on Friday against either the Baltimore Orioles or the New York Yankees.

The San Francisco Giants delivered the death-blow to the Los Angeles Dodgers playoff hopes. With their 4-3 win, the Giants knocked the Dodgers out of the playoff contention. The Giants and Dodgers finish their regular seasons today at 4pm on Fox Sports Chico 101.7 FM/AM 1340. The Giants will open the playofffs at home on Saturday against either the Cincinnati Reds or the Washington Nationals at AT & T Park.

Chico State volleyball is on the road for game three of a five match road-trip. They are in Turlock taking on the Stanislaus State Warriors. Chico enters the match 10-3 on the season.

AP) – The San Francisco 49ers cruised to a 24-3
road victory over the Arizona Cardinals last night and took firm
control of the NFC West at the halfway mark of their season.
Alex Smith threw touchdown passes to Michael Crabtree and Randy
Moss to help the Niners build a 24-0 lead.
Smith connected on 18 of 19 passes. That’s an NFL record for
most completed passes with just one incompletion.
The Niners defense lived up to its No. 1 ranking, holding
Arizona to just seven yards on the ground. And they didn’t yield a
TD for the fourth time in five games.
The Cardinals’ fourth straight loss after a 4-0 start drops them
two games behind 6-2 San Francisco in the division race.

(AP) – For the second time in three years, San
Francisco city officials are gearing up for a ticker-tape parade to
celebrate the Giants’ World Series victory.
Plans for the Wednesday event were being made as the city
cleaned up after a rowdy World Series celebration turned violent in
some neighborhoods and police arrested three dozen people.
City Hall says the parade will take a slightly different route
from the one that followed the Giants’ 2010 championship. Instead
of the financial district, the parade will start at the foot of
Market Street.
Mayor’s Office spokesman Francis Tsang said the new route is
safer and affords better views than the previous route.

CHICO – On the heels of its third consecutive North Division title, the Chico State men’s soccer team has earned the No. 2 seed in this weekend’s California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Tournament. And for the fourth time since 2008, the Wildcats’ first round opponent will be Cal State Dominguez Hills, this season’s host school of the four-team tourney. The ’Cats and the No. 3 seed Toros will take the pitch for their first round match Friday at 7 p.m. at Toro Stadium in Carson.

Chico State finished the regular season with a 9-2-5 overall record, using a 12-match unbeaten streak to grab the top spot in the North Division with an 8-1-5 mark and reach the postseason for the fourth time in Head Coach Felipe Restrepo’s five years at the helm. The Wildcats are currently the No. 4 ranked team – and the top CCAA school – in the NCAA West Region rankings.

Cal State Dominguez Hills heads into the tournament 10-6-1 on the year and ranked No. 6 in the West Region. The Toros finished second to Cal State L.A. in the CCAA South Division standings with a 10-5-0 conference mark.

The Toros beat Chico State in the only regular season meeting between the two teams. Dominguez Hills topped the Wildcats 3-1 Sept. 9 at University Soccer Stadium. The Toros also hold a 12-9-1 advantage in the all-time series with Chico State.

The Wildcats are 1-1-1 against Dominguez Hills in their three CCAA Tournament matchups. The two teams tied 1-1 in the 2008 semifinals, with the Toros advancing by winning a 5-3 shootout. Dominguez Hills downed Chico State 3-0 in the 2010 semis, but last season the ’Cats returned the favor, knocking off the Toros 3-0 to advance to the CCAA Tournament championship match.

The tournament’s other first round men’s match features No. 1 seed Cal State L.A. (ranked 5th in the West) against No. 4 Cal State Stanislaus (currently 8th in the West Region rankings) Friday at 4:30 p.m. The Golden Eagles, last year’s CCAA Tournament champion, finished the regular season 11-3-3 overall and 10-2-3 in conference to capture the South Division crown; Stanislaus is 9-4-3 on the season and finished second to Chico State in the North Division with a 7-4-3 conference mark.

(AP) – NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is apologizing to
fans for having to use replacement officials during a lockout of
regular refs. The impasse led to three weeks of questionable calls
– and one that cost the Green Bay Packers a win.
Goodell made his comments Thursday during a conference call
about 12 hours after the referees’ union and league agreed on a
tentative deal that will allow the regular officials to return
beginning with Thursday night’s Browns-Ravens game.
You can hear that game on 101.7 FM/AM 1340.
Goodell says: “Something like this, it’s painful for everybody.
Most importantly, it’s painful for fans. We’re sorry to have to put
fans through that.”
He added: “Sometimes you have to go through something like that
in the short term for the right agreement for the long term.”
The deal was struck two days after Seattle’s chaotic last-second
win over Green Bay in which the replacements missed a call.

(AP) – The San Francisco Giants have informed
Melky Cabrera’s agent they won’t bring the suspended outfielder
back at any point this postseason.
Manager Bruce Bochy made the announcement before Thursday’s
finale against the Arizona Diamondbacks, San Francisco’s final
regular-season home game.
Bochy says the NL West champion Giants will move forward into
the best-of-five divisional series with the 25 players they have.
Cabrera’s suspension takes him through the first five games of the
playoffs, so he would have been eligible in the NL championship
series if San Francisco advanced.
The All-Star game MVP, batting an NL-leading .346, was suspended
Aug. 15 for a positive testosterone text. Last Friday, Cabrera
asked to be removed from contention for the NL batting crown,
saying he had no wish to win a tainted title.

This week we break down some of the exciting match-ups from last weekend. The “Classic” played between Pleasant Valley and Valley Christian. The thriller at Harrison between Paradise and Encinal. And, we look at wins by Foothill, Anderson and West Valley.

We also preview one of the more competitive weekends in years in high school football with Shasta hosting West Valley, Lassen at Foothill, Red Bluff at Orland, Colusa at Durham, Maxwell and Fall River and two (3-0) teams going at it in Willows and Williams

The Biggs Wolverines were ready to celebrate. With 6:04 remaining they had just completed a 9-minute drive to grab a 21-7 lead over the defending Division V champion Fall River Bulldogs.

But the heart of a champion should never be underestimated. The Bulldogs would drive 60 yards in 2:55 seconds to cut the deficit to 21-14. Then, after recovering an on-side kick the Bulldogs were trying to pull off one of the great comebacks in North Section Championship history. With no timeouts the Bulldogs had a 1st and goal from the Biggs 7 yard line. After a couple of runs nudged the ball to the 3, Fall River’s chances looked to be dim after a fumbled snap. What would follow would be some of the most dramatic North Section Championship football in years.

Check out the video below as we provide the play-by-play as heard right here on KpaySports.com and the KpaySports app……